U.S. Ambassador to Canada on cross-border issues & More News Here

David Cohen has been the United States’ Ambassador to Canada since November 2021, and within the time since, each Canada and the United States have skilled a sequence of shared challenges.

Cohen, in an interview at his official residence in Ottawa, opens up concerning the state of the connection.

He touches on how inflation, central banks, potential fuel tax breaks and the “Freedom Convoy” protests have affected cross-border relations. He additionally delves into what impression U.S. abortion rights rulings and gun management crackdowns might have, and when cross-border journey guidelines may additional ease.

This transcript of Cohen’s interview with Evan Solomon for Sunday’s episode of CTV’s Question Period has been edited for size and readability.

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Evan Solomon: We are in a time, each within the U.S. and in Canada, with inflation at 40 12 months highs, 7.7 per cent right here. It’s affecting Americans on the pump, and the grocery retailer… Everyone says it is about provide chains. What is the U.S. and Canada doing collectively explicitly to assist individuals combat inflation?

Ambassador Cohen: “So, you recognize, inflation is clearly the dominant financial difficulty of the day in each the United States and in Canada. It is horrifying as a result of keep in mind, inflation is a product of macroeconomic forces… The financial system, the macro financial system is bigger than any authorities any official, and it is simply not one thing that you could wave a magic wand and make inflation go away. It’s an enormous macroeconomic power.

“That said there are a bundle of tactics and strategies that government writ large can and should execute in inflationary times. And the first of all of those is a central banking function. I’m not an elected official, so I’m allowed to say this: It is true that the major responsibility for managing macroeconomic forces in the economy like inflation, is a central bank function. It’s not a presidential or prime minister function.”

Solomon: Lots of people say the central banks each in your nation and in Canada blew it, as a result of they did not ease again fast sufficient.

Ambassador Cohen: “I agree with you that it is grow to be politicized. But I do not suppose a few of that criticism is political. I feel the criticism is by different severe economists who take a look at this difficulty and say, the central financial institution ought to have carried out one thing in another way. Then you’ve got obtained elected officers taking that remark and politicizing it. So these are, I feel these are two completely different levels of the identical of the identical explicit difficulty…

“We’re a victim of something that’s awfully good, which is as the pandemic eases, people are returning to their leisure and their vacation plans with a vengeance, and it’s the summer season. It’s the season where that happens. And so demand for gasoline is spiking to all time highs at a time when supplies are are not as robust as they have been at some times in history. And that is causing an increase in gas prices, which is a significant contributor to the overall increase in cost of living and to overall inflationary trends.”

Solomon: Was it a mistake for Joe Biden to cancel Keystone given the place the world is now, which might have helped on this scenario?

Ambassador Cohen: “I hope this is not headline information. After all, I’m Joe Biden’s good friend and his consultant in Canada. But Joe Biden completely didn’t make a mistake in canceling the Keystone pipeline. We do not have sufficient time to run by way of each argument there. But we’re speaking about inflation, which is honest, as Joe Biden has stated it’s the primary difficulty the United States faces. But it isn’t the one difficulty. And vitality just isn’t the one difficulty that Canada or the United States faces. You may argue that local weather change is the existential difficulty of our era. And then until we come up with local weather change and come up with the impacts of local weather change rapidly, we’re going to trigger irreversible injury to the environment.

“And by the way, that is something that has a tremendous Canadian implication, because of the adverse impact on the Arctic, from runaway climate change. And if you are Joe Biden and you’re the president of the United States, and frankly, if you’re the prime minister of Canada, you have to juggle not just inflation—no matter how important the issue is— not just prices of gasoline at the gas pump. But, you have to focus on the whole range of issues that confront your country.”

Solomon: Canada has simply introduced it is going to spend money on the following six years $4.9 billion to improve the NORAD system, the radar protection system that’s old-fashioned… Has your nation requested Canada when that system will probably be up to date? And what’s your view about how susceptible we are actually?

Ambassador Cohen: “I’m not bashful about expressing opinions, however I hope I do not get out of my lane and specific opinions about issues that I actually do not totally perceive or know. So the query you ask, which is how susceptible are we right now, is a elementary protection skilled query… I simply do not know sufficient to reply that query intelligently. I do suppose and the road that I’ve used is that whether or not its post-February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, and even earlier than that point… Those issues are notably related and essential within the Arctic, and we’d like a twenty first century protection response with twenty first century funding to give you the option to put us able to defend ourselves adequately…

“I have been asked a lot of times about Canada’s commitment to NORAD and what the United States was looking for. And my answer was, we’re, you know, Canada and the United States are partners in this binational command, the only binational defence command in the world, and our expectation our hope if you will, for NORAD and for Canada, is that they be a good partner.”

Solomon: On Friday… The [U.S.] Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. This just isn’t a shock… What is the importance for ladies and globally that that Roe v. Wade and entry to abortion rights are now not constitutionally protected in your nation?

Ambassador Cohen: “So as you say, this isn’t a shock, however that does not imply that it’s not a significant disappointment. You know, the importance of Roe vs. Wade is that for 50 years, these rights had been deemed to be constitutionally protected. I feel it’s a large blow for what’s an important constitutional proper for ladies within the United States. I feel it’s a large blow for gender fairness within the total equality democratic sense. It is a significant disappointment. President Biden has stated that within the occasion this resolution got here down, it will be an actual blow to girls’s rights and to and to the therapy of girls within the United States of America.

“This now turns into a matter of particular person states to decide the foundations that can apply to abortion. So in a way, the battlefield has shifted to a special governmental degree within the United States. The purpose I would like to watch out is since you’ve obtained such a lot of states below conservative— often Republican—management the place I feel abortion rights will probably be will doubtless be restricted…

“So this is not a good day for women, for the treatment of women. It is not a good day for our respect for women, and for their right to choose what happens with their own bodies. And so I can’t sugar coat that except just to say that we do need to shift the battlefield now and we need to try and preserve as much of a women’s right to choose in as many states as possible.”

Solomon: We are in a debate right here, intensely, concerning the necessity of the Emergencies Act. Was the U.S. authorities pressuring Canada to resolve this due to the financial penalties on cross-border commerce?

Ambassador Cohen: “I do not need to get into the interior Canadian debate on the propriety of the invocation of the Emergencies Act, however I’ve no downside saying that the menace to commerce and commerce between the United States and Canada because of the blockades at factors of entry—notably in Windsor on the Ambassador Bridge, which is the place the biggest single implication was—we’re speaking about just a few hundred million {dollars} a day of blocked commerce.

“And keep in mind, this was having implications on actual individuals. There had been car vegetation in Canada and the United States the place shifts had been being reduce, individuals had been dropping earnings because of this, there was an actual menace to the built-in car provide chain. There was a authentic menace to the commerce and commerce of each Canada and the United States.

“So the way you ask the question gives me a chance to make a very important point, because it’s not the United States’ place to pressure Canada into doing anything. Canada is its own sovereign country. We are friends, we are allies…That does not give us the right to tell Canada you need to do this. It does give us the right to have a serious discussion with our friend about the implications of this embargo on our mutual trade, on both sides of the border. And so there was a high level of concern. There were repetitive, high-level conversations with Chrystia Freeland, with multiple ministers in the Canadian government, with members of the cabinet. I was personally involved in many of those discussions, the White House got involved. So it was a matter of serious concern, but nobody in the United States to the best of my knowledge ever said to Canada, ‘you must resolve this problem,’ … It was very serious. It should have been taken seriously, and it was taken seriously.”

Solomon: I spoke with Congressman Higgins from New York, I’ve spoken to Canadian mayors, they need the ArriveCAN app dropped as a result of it is hurting commerce. Should Canada drop the ArriveCAN app? Is it hurting commerce now, and tourism?

Ambassador Cohen: “I don’t know enough about that. I say as a person now who has traveled multiple times between the United States and Canada, I have not experienced the problems with the ArriveCAN app that I read about in the newspapers. But, this is in the category of Canada being a sovereign nation. They need to make their own basic decisions about this. I do think when you look at a trend line of decisions that the U.S. and Canada have been making, we’re certainly moving toward fewer restrictions on border travel, and lowering barriers to the ability of people to move between our countries. And I think ArriveCAN will get caught up in that trend, and is a part of that ongoing conversation.”

Solomon: The tragedy in Uvalde, Texas was simply one of many newest. Horrific… The debate in Canada is that the gun downside is coming from the United States. It’s unlawful weapons coming over the border from the U. S. What is the U.S. doing to assist Canada cease the movement of unlawful weapons out of your nation into this nation?

Ambassador Cohen: “I do not need to be provocative, however I do not know that there is sufficient proof that the gun violence downside that’s skilled in Canada, is due both solely or perhaps even primarily to unlawful weapons within the United States coming over to Canada. Because, the very fact of the matter is that there is not excellent information on that query. It’s grow to be form of accepted standard knowledge, however not primarily based on information.

“But, the answer to the question is that the US and Canada have to cooperate on cutting down on illegal guns coming into Canada, if they are… We’ve had multiple collaborations and discussions about gun tracing, and how we trace and how we can help Canada do its gun tracing because Canada just doesn’t have the capacity… The United States has offered to help with that. And so it’s part of a high-level collaboration around gun violence, all designed to crack down on the importation of illegal handguns, whether it’s from the United States or elsewhere, coming into Canada.”

Solomon: The January 6 hearings. We’ve been watching these… Here in Canada, there’s extra considerations of one other convoy coming round Canada Day. Is there a menace to democracies from a rising populism? Or is this type of an occasion that can cross, or is it a deeper concern?

Ambassador Cohen: “So I feel that I feel that query is an extremely essential query… I do suppose within the United States and Canada, in all the world’s democracies, there’s a disturbing development of extremism, populist actions, often coming from the exhausting proper…

“It is a real threat and a real trend. I think a lot of it is based on misinformation, and is fueled by disinformation on social media. I think as a result, it is an extremely complicated question… I firmly believe that democracy will prevail, it will survive and that ultimately democracy will beat back autocracy. And one of the reasons I feel that way, is because one of the strengths of democracy is the discussion we’re having.”

Solomon: Last query. You’re a democracy optimist. Russia is attacking a democracy. There’s going be a NATO assembly, Canada has not hit its two per cent [of GDP spending on defence]. In the U.S.’ view, how lengthy does this combat go on for? Just give me your sense, are we in a long-term potential battle with Russia?

Ambassador Cohen: “I don’t think we’re in a war with Russia, now. Frankly, I don’t know that there’s going to be a quick resolution to the war in Ukraine. So we have to be in this for the long haul is the bottom line, and we have to recognize that autocracies like Russia, and like China by the way, are deserving of our attention. We have to be prepared to take those countries on and to continue to fight for our democratic ideals. And, and not to sound hokey, but to fight for liberty and justice for all.”

Solomon: Thanks, Ambassador.

Ambassador Cohen: Thank you once more. Thanks for coming.

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